SYNOPSISShort SynopsisWill (David Call), an unemployed and aimless playboy living in Brooklyn, New York, has spent his 20’s skating on easy charm from one casual, distant affair to the next. Noticing his friends’ happiness as they gradually settle into steady jobs and committed relationships, Will decides to trade apathy for effort in order to find someone with whom he can start the next chapter of his life. Shot on 16mm film with artful direction and honest performances, NORTHEAST is a vividly naturalistic portrayal of the pressures of an impending adulthood.

Long Synopsis:After moving to the Northeast for the first time, Will tries to adjust to his new environment. Bored and aimless, he spends most of his days wandering from place to place, looking for some form of entertainment. He often finds it on the streets, casually observing the passersby or watching girls from afar. Yet, whatever pleasure he gains from this type of voyeuristic existence inevitably fades, and he looks to his friends to fill the void.He also looks to Leah, an impressionable grad student who he sleeps with on a regular basis. While Leah probably wants a little more from their relationship, Will is fully content to keep things uncomplicated. One night at an uneventful party, he is reacquainted with an old fling, the charming and eccentric Molly. Even though they share a blatant chemistry, Molly swiftly and nonchalantly keeps Will’s advances at bay.Next, Will turns to Lauren, another old friend with whom he’s had a past. Lauren is readily willing to act on their mutual attraction, as long as there are no strings attached. Yet, when Will pushes her limits too far, he immediately backs off and continues to look elsewhere. After spending a night with a random older woman, Will decides that he must go after Molly’s affections once and for all, regardless of the consequences. “Northeast” is an objective portrayal of Will, an amoral modern man. While Will is a unique character, the film asks the viewer to question whether he is really that different from any of us.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENTWhen I first moved to New York in the summer of 2006, I was having a tough time adjusting to my new city. I had a lot of things going for me but nothing could change the fact that I was pretty unhappy. One night during this time, I had a long phone conversation with my father, which was not exactly a common occurrence for he and I. Out of that conversation, he told me something that I never forgot. Drawing upon his own experience of living in the city decades before, he said to me: “New York is a funny place. You’re surrounded by more people than you’ve ever been and ever will be in your entire life, and yet you’ll never feel more alone.”

While this wasn’t the most life-changing, mind-altering revelation I had ever heard, there was something perfectly concise and universal about what he was explaining to me. Anyone who has spent more than a week in New York has felt its uncompromising indifference and pervasive loneliness. And I’m not talking about the gritty NYC of the 1970s or 1980s, but rather the post-Giuliani, cleaned-up, corporate version. It’s a singular indescribable feeling, one that is certainly not specific only to New York City, or even to the Northeast. Yet, it just seems more apparent there than anywhere else that I’ve ever lived, possibly because it’s so readily accepted by all of those who endure it.

As a writer, this feeling ultimately became a concept, as it was impossible for me to avoid. I was living with it and experiencing it every single day, so no matter what I tried to write, it somehow saturated itself into my work. About a year after I had moved, Jason Selvig and I were doing a comedy show and everything that we were writing was somehow tainted by our own loneliness and anger. To be honest, most of the jokes were probably better for it. Likewise, NORTHEAST, which started as a very different type of script, quickly and thankfully became about the events that I was living and observing firsthand. I wanted to show the essence of the city in all of its clumsy glory, and also capture the people and the relationships that have mattered most to me. There are very few scenes in the movie that were imagined, and very few characters that weren’t based on real people. In that way, it’s sort of a love letter to regular people trying to make a go of it in a regular city.

The movie is many things to me, but at its core, it will always be about that all-encompassing feeling that my dad explained so well, about how an environment can affect a person, or even a whole mass of people, about how you can find yourself all alone in a room full of others. Human connection to me will always be that great spiritual mystery beyond anything else. You will never be able to be somebody else, but maybe you can get close enough. I’m pretty sure that’s why people sit down to write stories, and why others sit down to read them.

PRINCIPAL CAST BIOS

DAVID CALL as WillA native of Washington state and a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, David Call can soon be seen starring in Alistair Banks Griffin’s TWO GATES OF SLEEP (Cannes 2010) and Lena Dunham’s TINY FURNITURE (IFC Films/SXSW 2010). He was most recently in DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS? with Hugh Grant, as well as EVENING, Chad Lowe’s BEAUTIFUL OHIO and THE NOTORIOUS BETTY PAGE. He has also worked extensively in television, with recurring roles on “Gossip Girl,” “Rescue Me,” “Fringe” and “Mercy,” as well as past appearances on “Numb3rs,” “Army Wives” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” He recently directed, co-wrote and produced the short film B.U.S.T., which won the Special Jury Prize at the Dallas International Film Festival.

ELÉONORE HENDRICKS as Molly

Eléonore Hendricks was born in downtown Manhattan. After cultivating strength and sensitivity from the Quaker Friends School in NYC and the all women's Smith College, she began a simultaneous pursuit in film and photography. As an actor she has worked on various films including, A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS, THE PLEASURE OF BEING ROBBED, and DADDY LONGLEGS. Her performance in THE PLEASURE OF BEING ROBBED earned her the Prix d'Interpretation from Festival De Belfort.

MEGAN TUSING as Leah

Megan Tusing has been a resident of New York City since 2006. A few Film/TV credits include “Law & Order: SVU,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Mercy,” “Postales (LoFu Productions),” and “Odd Jobs (oddjobnation.com).” Megan recently filmed a co-star role on HBO's “Bored to Death” which will air this fall. Some New York theatre credits include Wolves (59E59), Airborne (Ensemble Studio Theatre Marathon '10), Princes of Waco (Ensemble Studio Theatre '09 & '10), The Theory of Everything (Lake George Theatre Lab), Sine Wave Goodbye (The Paper Industry), When Is A Clock (Blue Coyote Theater Group), And The Spirit of Christmas Passed (The Brick), Stock Home (NYC Fringe) and Happy Girl (Samuel French Festival). Megan is a graduate of James Madison University.

LAUREN SHANNON as Lauren

Lauren Shannon received her degree in acting at Emerson College. Film credits include THE UNIDENTIFIED; NIGHT SHIPS, directed by Adam Bizanski. New York theater work includes Illuminati; Quick and Dirty; The Director. Lauren is a former BAT with the Flea Theater, and she lives and works in NYC.

LAURA FORD as Caroline

Laura Ford has appeared in films such as ASSASSINATION OF A HIGH SCHOOL PRESIDENT (with Bruce Willis), Carolina (with Julia Stiles), and CAYMAN WENT (with Michael Lombardi.) Television appearances include “Numb3rs” (CBS), “Heist” (NBC), “Lucky” (FX), “Sports Night”(NBC), and “LA Doctors” (CBS). She is a graduate of the Atlantic Theater Company’s Two-Year Professional Training Program.

JASON SELVIG as Jason

Jason received a BFA in Drama from Syracuse University's School of Visual and Performing Arts, where he wrote and performed in numerous theatrical productions. After moving to New York, Jason co-created the sketch-comedy show, “North Palm Wrestling,” which aired on MTV2. Jason wrote and starred in most of the show’s sketches. He has performed as a live stand-up comedian, been featured in commercials, and has written and acted in numerous web and television pilots.

TATE ELLINGTON as Patrick

Tate Ellington most recently starred opposite Robert Pattinson in the Summit feature film REMEMBER ME. He also starred in the THE ELEPHANT KING, which was selected for the Tribeca Film Festival, and for which he won Best Actor at the Brooklyn International Film Festival. His theatre credits include The Philanthropist on Broadway opposite Matthew Broderick and Steven Weber , The Shape Of Things for the Rising Sun Performance Company, and the 2004 Fringe Festival winning Dog Sees God at the SoHo Playhouse. Other film and TV credits include ABC’s “The Unusuals,” Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson’s THE INVENTION OF LYING, HBO Film’s TAKING CHANCE, and the independent film RED opposite Brian Cox.

PRINCIPAL CREW BIOS

GREGORY KOHN, Writer/DirectorGregory began his directing career with the MTV2 sketch-comedy show, “North Palm Wrestling.” In addition to directing, he also co-wrote, produced and edited the show. Gregory has also directed numerous music videos, most notably for the critically acclaimed band, Sleigh Bells. NORTHEAST is his first feature film. He is the writer of numerous screenplays and television pilots.

CHRISTINE NO ProducerChristine graduated from the American Film Institute Conservatory with her MFA in Producing. Her short film PATROL premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, 2010 and was a Finalist for the Student Academy Award. She lives in New York and is currently associate producing a feature film in Los Angeles.

ELEONORE MEIER, ProducerEleonore’s first feature-length film, MACHO, which sold to IFC, was made in-between her first and second year at the American Film Institute, where she earned her MFA in December of 2009. While studying, she interned at Wendy Finerman’s production company and for Dream Entertainment at the American Film Market. Eleonore has produced numerous short films and is involved as an executive producer in Dieter Meier’s (Yello) feature film THE LIGHTMAKER, which premiered at the Berlinale in 2001. She currently lives in Los Angeles where she is starting her own production company.

CATHERINE GOLDSCHMIDT, Director of PhotographyAs a Film Studies major at Wesleyan University, Catherine’s first cinematography credit was Benh Zeitlin’s EGG, which won Best Animated Short at Slamdance in 2005. Catherine went on to study filmmaking at FAMU in Prague, and Cinematography at the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles, where she received her MFA in 2009. Upon graduating from AFI, Catherine was awarded the highly competitive Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Internship, which allowed her to shadow and assist DP Alan Caso, ASC on the set of NBC’s “Trauma.” Catherine has shot everything from narrative to experimental to commercial work in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and most recently London.

YVETTE GRANATA, Production DesignerYvette graduated from the University of Michigan where she studied English literature and the narrative form. She also studied Renaissance art and architecture in Rome, Italy on scholarship. After graduating, Yvette moved to New York where she became involved in filmmaking, first working on Antonio Campos' independent feature, AFTERSCHOOL. She has since worked in the art department on an array of projects, including films directed by Nicole Holofcener and Todd Haynes, and has production designed a number of projects, including the Cinereach grant fellowship short The Drawing by Gabe Long for which director Lauren Collyer mentored. NORTHEAST is the first feature film production designed by Yvette. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

WILLIAM LEHMAN, EditorWilliam Lehman (b. 1983) is a freelance editor living in New York City. His recent work includes editing the THE LYNCH PIN (dir. Edward Burns). He has worked in the editorial department on numerous features and docs, including BLUE VALENTINE, THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD, and YOUSSOU NDOUR: I BRING WHAT I LOVE.

JOHN LAROSA, Sound DesignerAfter studying film at San Jose State and the University of Southern California, John has been doing sound for picture for the past four years. Working in both production and post production sound has given him the ability to think like a sound editor during production. Whether recording sound on set or editing sound in his studio (hyjinx sound), John's ultimate goal is to make sound an active member of the cinematic storytelling process.

reRun Theater
147 Front StNew York,
NY 11201

Organizer

reRun@reBar - email events@rebarnyc.com

(April 2011) EVERY DAY WITH RACHAEL RAY praised reRun's gourmet popcorn as one of 4 nationwide theaters "giving their classic snack an upgrade."

(October 2011) TIME OUT NEW YORK singled out reRun as a "DIY trailblazer," saying they "love reRun's laid-back vibe" and "friendly staff."

(December 2011) TRAVEL AND LEISURE hailed reRun, among 9 others, as one of "The World's Coolest Movie Theaters."

(February 2012) VARIETY says reRun "raises bar for indies" and is "among the only theaters in the U.S. that provides newfound theatrical and ancillary opportunities to films without a [distributor]."

reRun is reBar's independent cinema, located just down the hall from the restaurant. Featuring 48 reclaimed car seats, full bar, gourmet snack counter, and a 12-foot screen, reRun offers just the kind of intimate art-house theater experience you'd expect from the creators of the funky gastropub reBar.

reRun provides a large theater AV experience. An all-digital 1080p HD projector, coupled with a monstrous JBL 7.1 surround pro-audio sound system make the movies projected on the twelve foot screen come alive in a sparkling show. The bar features two rotating draft taps, a broad selection of bottled craft beers, a selection of sustainable, organic, and biodynamically farmed wines, a full liquor cabinet for your imbibing pleasure, and traditional and creative snacks created by reBar's Executive Chef Jeremy Leech.

During off-hours reRun is available for private rental. Children's birthdays, corporate off-site meetings, and private get-togethers are all possible in the theater. Call the reBar and reRun Special Events Department at (718) 797.3025 for private bookings. Catering available for your parties through reBar.